How to Become Yelp Elite

[Commence whining... Now!]

So I got passed over for Yelp Elite 2009. And I feel super slighted. I first became Elite in 2007, had it renewed in 2008, and I was very active on the site this past year.

Yet no invite for 2009, and no explanation.

I even emailed them a nicely crafted paragraph application when they requested it, detailing my 40+ new reviews in 2008, my 20+ new friends, and my activity on the Talk boards and Events page. I also called out my passionate online and offline evangelism of the site. Heck I've had the Yelp widget on my blog for 3 years now!

But no love in return.

What happened? I did have one instance where a recent review of mine was rejected, because it was a general ad hominem attack on a venue's clientele as opposed to a review of my experience at the venue itself (sorry Medjool, but you do cater to Marina douchebags who like to "slum it" in the Mission). I learned from that. I won't do it again.

My last recourse is to write this post, give it a strong SEO headline, and hope the powers that be at Yelp give me a second chance!

I love the site and will continue to use it going forward. But come on... Why did I get passed over this year? It is just not fair. It's not a good way to maintain an online community and foster trust in the system. Now all my descriptions of Yelp and the Yelp Elite program will likely be tainted by an accent of bitterness.

Yelp, please give me another chance!

UPDATE: This post is currently the 3rd result in Google when searching for "how to become yelp elite" and the 1st result for "becoming yelp elite".